Prior Art
In winches used on sailing boats for handling sheets, or other lines, it is common to use a winch in which a lever, or the like, is inserted in top of the winch drum and, either directly or through reduction gears, can be operated to rotate the drum. This type of winch can, with difficulty, be operated by one man, however, for fast and efficient action two men are required, one to operate the winch handle and one to maintain the line in frictional engagement with the winch drum.
In larger sailing craft, types of winches called coffee-grinders or grinders, are quite often used. These types of winches are normally operated by two men who operate crank handles to rotate the winch drum which necessitates a third man to handle the sheets or levers.
Winches operable by leg power have in the past been developed, however, such winches have used rotatable bicycle-type pedal assemblies for motive power. This type of driving assembly has not been entirely successful as the bicycle-type drive results in dead spots where the crank arms are generally in line with the direction of thrust of the legs.
This type of winch, however, does leave a winch operator's hands free so that he can drive the winch with his legs and at the same time handle the line wrapped around the winch drum.